Bernanke warns against Senate's swaps proposal

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, sent a letter to Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee, warning about a proposal in Dodd's bill for financial-regulatory overhaul that would separate commercial banks and their swaps-trading operations. Bernanke said the measure would hinder the central bank's ability to monitor systemic risk. "I am concerned that section 716 in its present form would make the U.S. financial system less resilient and more susceptible to systemic risk and, thus, is inconsistent with the important goals of financial reform legislation," Bernanke wrote.